MCC Friday Reflections

The first two weeks of school have come to an end. Week one was a period of first impressions.  Impressions of the self, impressions of the environment, impressions of how one might fit into a group.  Active games were played designed to elicit group participation, fostering "getting-to-know-you" agendas, and seeking to "break the ice" so a level of comfort can be ascertained.   It went well.   Week two rolled in quickly; bringing with it promises of curriculum work from the week before.  We dived headfirst into reading and writing, spelling and grammar, math facts and geography, not to mention a favorite--science.  We applied the ideas of responsibility, respect and kindness while we learned.  We took to heart the idea that there is a time to play and a time to work...and when those times came about, the kids responded appropriately.  We quickly found ourselves face to face with Friday...Assessment Day!! Every Friday bec...

Kids know they are supposed to do well in school.  They know that the expectations from the adults in their lives are to do well; do you best; be proud.  Each day they come to class they are prepared to accomplish the goal set forth.  Some days they shine like bright stars in the dark night while other days the shine is clouded over by frustration, exhaustion, and indifference. Despite the cloudy days the kids are to return to school.  They are to once again forge ahead with skills, strategies, and concepts that challenge their minds, their logic, and their understanding.  They learn to use resources available to them; they learn to ask questions designed to further their understanding; they learn how to learn. Each year my students set goals for themselves...academic and otherwise.  One such goal is a class goal known as "Unsolicited Compliments".  Each year, the class I have currently tries to beat the class record from the year b...

Running... Original post written on August 18, 2012. Minor changes for clarity made in Aug 2026. Twelve years. That's how long I have been teaching at Lincoln. Twelve years. That's how long I have taken the same route from my house to school. In that time I have seen many houses for sale, then sold. Some were torn down to make room for a new house, a new family, and new students. I've seen the streets that I traverse through Elmhurst being ripped apart and rebuilt to make them safer and more driver friendly, not to mention more car-friendly. Twelve years. I've seen high school kids standing on corners, waiting for the school bus to pick them up for school. Some of them recognize my car while others recognize me as their former teacher. Most of them, however, probably do not pay much attention to me as I pass by. Among all that I see, Monday through Friday mornings there is an unmistakable figure, usually two blocks ahead of me on Fairfield. He is a man. He has slightly ...

Ella's Corner: Your Threads...(by Michael) : There's facts. There's statistics. There information. Then, there's more. SMA Awareness Month has been a wonderful influx of facts...

We are very excited to announce the re-opening of our store.  We closed several months ago due to the fact that our youngest daughter, who has been diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 2 developed RSV and pneumonia.  She was admitted to the hospital for a week and returned home with many medical machines to help keep her healthy.  We have been spending our time since her hospital release learning how to best use these machines as well as developing a new daily routine for our family.   Ella Sabine Casten Born:  June 10, 2010 Diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 2:  August 12, 2011 As of late, we have also taken a good close look at what we wanted to do with Mama Bracelets.  We love our business.  We decided to keep going with it and renewed our LLC for another year.  We also looked at what our customers were purchasing since we opened and adjusted our product line accordingly.   ...

Dear Parents & Students, I usually write separate letters for my parents and students.  This year, however, I chose to write one.  This decision was born out of the fact that I have never felt so much gracious consideration in my entire life as I have this past year.  This came not only from the adults surrounding me but also from the kids I taught...each and every one of them. When I began this year I was a wreck.  I found myself hard pressed to focus on what I was doing.  Thoughts of my family, SMA, and everything surrounding us consumed me.  Sleepless nights came one after the other.  Faraway thoughts of my entire life kept creeping into my daily routines.  Fighting tears as I watched children run and play took much of my strength. September proved to be the hardest month I have ever experienced as a teacher...and it was personal. Each day that I headed to work I wondered how I would make it through the day.  I wondered...

Ella Sabine Casten Born:  June 10, 2010 Diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 2:  August 12, 2011 Dear Colleagues, My  11 th year teaching in District 205 winds down and I find myself thinking about the many people, seen and unseen, that have reached out to my family in one way or another over the past nine months. My name is Michael Casten.   I teach 4 th Grade at Lincoln School.  My daughter, Ella, was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 2,  just days before our students started this past school year.  Prior to walking into Lincoln only a handful of people knew of Ella’s condition.  Word spread quickly as people began wondering what they might do in order to show their concern and care. SMA is a progressive, degenerative, terminal disease that has a prevalence rate of every 1 in 6000 live births being affected.  One in 40 people are carriers of the recessive gene responsible for this devast...